Households urged 'beware' as fake Christmas shopping delivery texts sent

Brits have been advised about fake delivery texts being sent out ahead of the busy Christmas shopping season. Many Brits will be expecting packages to arrive over the next few weeks as they purchase gifts for loved ones online. This provides a prime opportunity for scammers to try and steal from hardworking households, and fresh advice is being issued for people to be on the lookout for bogus text messages prompting them to track packages.

New scams are being driven by AI, and some Brits find it hard to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. Research commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Censuswide found that two in five Brits surveyed have been affected by a digital scam in some capacity. Meanwhile, 80% of consumers said artificial intelligence is making scams harder to spot, while 65% said they're afraid they could be deceived by messages appearing to come from trusted contacts.

The results of the research listed the five most common scams to be aware of over the festive period, with the top one being delivery scams. These are emails and text messages about a fake delivery, often involving prompts to take action over fake parcel tracking or missed delivery notices.

The research found that 34% of all consumers polled had been targeted by these in the past 12 months. 76% of respondents reported seeing more scams this year than last year, while 53% don't know how or where they should report them.

Microsoft has issued advice for Brits to be aware of as the Christmas shopping season gets busier. Their advice is:

Slow down if you feel pressured. Urgency is one of the biggest red flags for spotting scams.

Verify the source. Don't use the contact details you've received, but instead go to a company's official website to check if it's legit.

Check details such as spelling and grammar, as these can be a tell-tale sign of AI.

Protect your personal information, as legit companies will never or bank details, passcodes or remote access.

Report suspicious messages and scams through official channels.

To report a suspected scam, Brits are asked to forward scam emails to the NCSC's Suspicious Email Reporting Service at report@phishing.gov.uk or forward scam texts to 7726.

Alternatively, you can report a scam message via the official Stop Think Fraud hub. "For the festive shopping period, it is important for consumers to remember that cyber criminals seek to exploit this surge in spending, using trust in established brands and the seasonal popularity of products, to lure people into clicking malicious links or sharing personal and financial information," said NCSC Director for National Resilience, Jonathon Ellison.

Other scams to be aware of this festive season are banking scams (messages claiming to be from a bank), prize scams (such as fake prize giveaways that require you to give personal information), subscription scams (fake messages about expiring services that often ask for card details) and government immitation (texts pretending to be from departments like HMRC or the DVLA).